Superintendent's Update on School Safety

Superintendent's Update on School Safety

Posted on 03/05/2019

I worry about gun violence in schools and the potential harm it could cause in Attleboro EVERY day. However, this recent threat worries me for different reasons. In fact, today it is the implications of this new challenge that makes me anxious.

A thoughtless individual attempted to harass someone on social media by threatening violence in school. The only real casualty was our collective sense of security. The police have thoroughly investigated the matter, committing significant human capital and exhausting the technological resources available to them. They do not believe the post poses a credible threat. Placed in its proper context, there is no reason to believe AHS was ever in any real danger. I have the utmost confidence in this assessment by our law-enforcement experts. The anonymity of the threat makes moving on more difficult, but if we let fear overcome our reason, then the negative power of social media will be the only thing we secure.

This episode is disturbing, and it is understandable that many people are uncomfortable with just trusting police and school officials. However, the details of this incident are complicated, somewhat convoluted, and still developing through investigation. Furthermore, some of the technological aspects of this case are unfamiliar to many of us. All of this makes it challenging to explain simply. Nevertheless, we will continue our efforts to make the specifics of this situation more transparent for all concerned.